Catalonia national football team

The Catalonia national football team (Catalan: Selecció de futbol de CatalunyaSpanish: Selección de fútbol de Cataluña) is the official football team of the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is organised by the Catalan Football Federation. The team has been referred to by various names including Selecció Catalana, Selecció de Barcelona and the Catalan XI.

Catalonia is not affiliated with either FIFA or UEFA and is therefore not allowed to participate in either the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship. Other than in certain cases where other nationalities are involved, Catalan players are full Spanish citizens who are eligible to play for Spain, and often do.

Since 1904, the team has played nearly 200 games against various national, regional and club teams.[1] International friendly games have been played more regularly since 1997. Among the teams they have played are Nigeria, Brazil and Argentina.

History

First games

The Catalonia team made their debut in 1905. Initially they played against various club teams such as Club Espanyol, Madrid CF, FC Barcelona and Irún Sporting Club. On 2 February 1912, they made their international friendly debut against France, losing 7–0 in Paris. The team was: Reñé, Irízar, Amecharruza, Alemany, Peris, Armet, Forns, Rodríguez, Comamala, Morales and Ramiro. On 1 December 1912, the two teams met again in Barcelona and this time the Catalans won 1–0. In 1914, the Catalan XI played the Basque Country XI for the first time, but there is no record of the result.[2] The first recorded game between the two teams took place on 3 January 1915 at San Mamés Stadium; the Catalan XI lost 6–1.[3]

Copa Príncep d'Astúries

Between 1915 and 1926, the Catalan XI competed in an inter-regional competition. They finished as runners-up in 1915 and won the Copa Príncep d'Astúries for the first time in 1916, beating a Castile XI 8–5 over two games. They then retained the trophy in 1917 after beating the Castile XI 2–0. During the 1920s, a team featuring Josep Samitier, Paulino Alcántara, Sagibarba and Ricardo Zamora helped the Catalan XI win the competition in 1922, 1924 and 1926. The last competition in 1926 was a play-off between the two teams who had won the competition the most. The Catalans beat an Asturias XI 6–3 over two games.

As well as playing other regional teams from throughout Spain and Europe, the 1920s also saw the Catalan XI play several international friendly matches. On 13 March 1924, at the Camp de Les Corts, the Catalan XI played Spain for the first time. The Spain XI included Josep Samitier and Ricardo Zamora, two of the best Catalan players of the era, while the Catalan XI featured Paulino Alcántara and Sagibarba. Samiter scored twice as the Spain XI won 7–0. On 13 December 1925, Samitier, Zamora, Alcántara and Sagibarba were on the same side as the Catalan XI beat Czechoslovakia at the Estadi de Sarrià. After conceding a penalty and going down 1–0, Sagibarba then equalised with another penalty before Samitier clinched a 2–1 win. On 7 July 1926, the Catalan XI played Czechoslovakia in Prague. Despite Samitier putting the Catalans 1–0 ahead, they eventually lost 2–1.

Catalonia vs. Brazil

During the 1930s, Catalonia continued playing friendly games against an array of teams; 1934 was a particularly good year. On 2 February, they played Spain and lost 2–0 at Les Corts. Four months later, they played Brazil twice. On 17 June, the Catalan XI beat Brazil 2–1 at Les Corts and then on 24 June, they held them to a 2–2 draw at the Vista Alegre in Girona. The Brazil team had been in Europe to play in the official 1934 FIFA World Cup and included the legendary Leônidas in their team. The Catalan XI completed a good month when on June 29 they beat the reigning official La Liga champions, Athletic Bilbao, 5–1.

During this era, several notable Barcelona players, including the Spanish players László Kubala, Luis Suárez, Evaristo and later Jesús María Pereda, played for the Catalan XI. On 26 January 1955, in a friendly game against Bologna at Les Corts, Kubala was also joined by another guest player, Alfredo Di Stéfano. The Catalan XI won 6–2 with two goals from Kubala and one from Di Stéfano. On 1 September 1956, Di Stéfano returned to Les Corts with Real Madrid, recent winners of the first official European Cup, and played a Selecció de Barcelona. Real won the game 7–3.

Democratic era

Since the restoration of democracy in the 1970s, the Catalonia representative team has regularly played international friendly matches. They put together a string of successful results against countries like Bulgaria, Nigeria, Yugoslavia, Lithuania and Chile. On 5 May 2002, Catalonia hosted Brazil in a warm up friendly game before the official 2002 World Cup. Brazil, who went on to win the official competition, beat Catalonia 3–1. In 2004, Brazil returned for a second friendly game and this time won 5–2 at the Camp Nou, where some months later Argentina defeated Catalonia 3–0. The last friendly matches have been against Paraguay, Costa Rica, Basque Country, Argentina and Colombia.

Johan Cruyff era

On 2 November 2009, it was announced that Dutch legend and former Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff would be the new coach of Catalonia.[4][4] On 22 December 2009, they played a friendly against Argentina, which ended in a Catalonia win, 4–2 at Camp Nou. On 28 December 2010, Catalonia played another friendly against Honduras winning 4–0 at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.[5] On 30 December 2011, Catalonia played Tunisia in a goalless draw at the Lluís Companys.[6] In their last game under Cruyff, on 2 January 2013, Catalonia drew with Nigeria at the Cornellà-El Prat, 1–1.[7]

Post-Cruyff era

Former player Gerard was appointed new coach for the Catalan team for two years. His first match with the team took place on 30 December 2013 against Cape Verde at the Olímpic Lluís Companys.[8]

Selected coaches

Honours

Copa Príncep d'Astúries

Winners (5): (1916, 1917, 1921, 1924, 1926)

Runners-Up (1): (1915)

Estimated Elo

The Elo rating system was adapted for football by adding a weighting for the kind of match, an adjustment for the home team advantage, and an adjustment for goal difference in the match result. Its estimated Elo is 1856 (fantasy rank: 16th; 31 December 2018). Its highest Elo were 1885 points (after winning against Honduras on December 28, 2010). At that time it would have been the seventh world national football team in the World behind Spain, Germany, Argentina and England and above Portugal, Italy, France and among those.

The Athletic–Barcelona clásico refers to football matches between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona, two clubs competing in Spanish football competitions.

The two clubs are among the oldest in the country, and have participated in every season of the national championship, La Liga. Owing to this, as well as contesting eight finals of the Copa del Rey (in which they are the two most successful clubs), it is the third most-played football fixture in Spain, after the meetings of each with the third constant member of the league, Real Madrid. Due to this, it has been referred to as a Clásico, the modern Spanish term for a significant and traditional fixture (a classic) which is not a derbi based on geographical proximity.

The relationship between Athletic and Barcelona has historically been fairly healthy aside from certain periods when competitiveness became hostility, such as in the early 1980s. By the turn of the 21st century, the rivalry had largely become a historical concept due to the disparity in the fortunes of the clubs and the lack of a local element, but their frequent meetings in matches of importance, including three Copa del Rey finals, restored some relevancy to the fixture.

Camp Nou (Catalan pronunciation: [ˌkamˈnɔw], meaning new field, often referred to in English as the Nou Camp) is the home stadium of FC Barcelona since its completion in 1957.

With a seating capacity of 99,354, it is the largest stadium in Spain and Europe, and the third largest football stadium in the world in capacity. It has hosted two European Cup/Champions League finals in 1989 and 1999, two UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals, four Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final games, five UEFA Super Cup final games, four Copa del Rey finals, two Copa de la Liga final games, twenty-one Supercopa de España final games, five matches including the opening game of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, two out of four matches at the 1964 European Nations' Cup and the football competition final at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

The Catalan Football Federation (Catalan: Federació Catalana de Futbol) is the football association responsible for administering football in Catalonia. It was formed on 11 November 1900 as the Football Associació de Catalunya (English: Football Association of Catalonia). It was the first football association founded in Spain. The first president was Eduard Alesson and the original members included FC Barcelona, Català SC, Hispania AC and Sociedad Española de Football.

Between 1903 and 1940, the federation organised the Campionat de Catalunya, the first league championship ever played in Spain. Since 1904, the federation has also organised the Catalonia national football team. Today, the federation continues to organise its own club competition, the Copa Catalunya. It also administers Tercera División Group 5 and the Primera Catalana within the Spanish football league system.

Bosch Josep-Clemente Gràcia (5 February 1897 – 6 March 1981), known as Grace, was a Spanish Catalan footballer who played as a forward and out as header during a career which lasted from 1917 to 1926. In the midst of his years (1919–26) as a member of FC Barcelona, he achieved a record, during the 1921–22 season, which has remained unbroken into 2010 — the most goals (59) scored by a player in a season.

Eduardo Manchón Molina (born 24 July 1930 in Barcelona, died there on 29 September 2010) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward.

Although naturally left-footed, he was also adept with his right, and was capable of playing both as a striker and on the left wing.

Between 1950 and 1957 he scored 88 goals in 201 games for Barcelona, where he witnessed one of his most successful periods in his career. He belonged to the legendary "Five Cups-Barça" side, which won all five possible trophies in 1952. During his time with the club, he won La Liga twice, the Spanish Cup four times, the Copa Eva Duarte twice, and even the Latin Cup.

The Estadi Municipal Olímpic is a stadium in Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain. It is currently used for football matches and is the home stadium of Terrassa FC. The stadium holds 11,500 spectators.

The venue hosted the field hockey competitions for the 1992 Summer Olympics. Built in 1955, it was renovated in 1991 for those games. It was also used in a friendly match between the Catalonia national football team and Costa Rica on May 24, 2006, in which Catalonia won 2-0.

This is a list of foreign players in Major League Soccer. The following players:

Have played at least one MLS regular season game. Players who were signed by MLS clubs, but only played in playoff games, U.S. Open Cup games, or did not play in any competitive games at all, are not included.

Are considered foreign, i.e., outside Canada or the United States determined by the following:A player is considered foreign if he is not eligible to play for the national team of Canada or the United States.More specifically,

If a player has been capped on international level, the national team is used; if he has been capped by more than one country, the highest level (or the most recent) team is used. These include American and Canadian players with dual citizenship.

If a player has not been capped on international level, his country of birth is used, except those who were born abroad from American or Canadian parents, or moved to Canada or the United States at a young age, and those who clearly indicated to have switched his nationality to another nation.Up to now, 117 different nations have been represented in MLS. South Korea is the most recent nation to be represented with Kim Kee-hee playing for Seattle Sounders on 18 March 2018 at Dallas FC.

In bold: players who have played at least one MLS game in the current season (2018 Major League Soccer season), and are still at the clubs for which they have played. This does not include current players of a MLS club who have not played a MLS game in the current season.

This is a list of foreign players (i.e. non-Italian players) in Serie A. The following players:

have played at least one Serie A game for the respective club (seasons in which and teams for, a player, did not collected any caps in Serie A , have NOT to be listed).

have not been capped for the Italian national team on any level, independently from the birthplace, except for players born in San Marino and active in the Italian national team before the first official match of the Sammarinese national team played on 14 November 1990 and players of Italian formation born abroad from Italian parents (so called 'Oriundi').

have been born in Italy and were capped by a foreign national team. This includes players who have dual citizenship with Italy.Players are sorted by the State:

they played for in a national team on any level. For footballers that played for two or more national teams it prevails:

the one he played for on A level.

the national team of birth.

If they never played for any national team on any level, it prevails the state of birth. For footballers born in dissolved states prevails the actual state of birth (e.g.: Yugoslavia -> Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, etc.).

These are all the teams that have had at least a foreign player while playing in a Serie A season and in bold are the ones currently playing for the 2018–19 season :

This is a list of foreign players in Serie B of the Italian football league system. The following players:

have played at least one Serie B game for the respective club;

have not been capped for the Italian national team on any level, independently from the birthplace, except for players born in San Marino and active in the Italian national team before the first official match of the Sammarinese national team played on November 14, 1990 and players of Italian formation born abroad from Italian parents;

have been born in Italy and were capped by a foreign national team. This includes players who have dual citizenship with Italy.These are all the teams that have had at least a foreign player while playing in a Serie A season and in bold are the ones currently playing for the 2018–19 season :

These are the only teams that have participated in Serie A but have not had a foreign player: Acireale, Alba Roma, Barletta, Biellese, Bolzano, Brindisi, Campobasso, Carrarese Calcio, Casale, Cavese, Centese, Derthona, Fiumana, Forlì, Magenta, Massese

In bold are the players that have played at least one game in the 2018–19 season.

This category is for non-Maltese footballers who currently play or have played in any of the Maltese leagues. The list includes also players that earned Maltese nationality during the years since being Maltese or marrying a Maltese wife. Players with two different nationalities are written in both of the countries.

Marc Valiente Hernández (born 29 March 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays mainly as a central defender for Serbian club Partizan.

He was formed at Barcelona and later played for Sevilla. While youngster he mainly gained experience as a reserve player at both clubs. All until 2010, when he joined Valladolid, where he became a regular starter and played 157 official games in a five-year span he spend in the club at both Spanish first and second levels. In 2015 he decides to take his chance abroad, and has spells at highest levels in Israel, Belgium and Serbia.

As a promising talented youngster, in 2006 and 2007, Valiente was, respectivelly, regular at Spanish U19 and U20 sides. Later, in 2013, when Valiente was making consistent performances with Valladolid in La Liga, he was elected among the best Catalan players and represented Catalonia national football team in their game versus Cape Verde played in December that year.

The Slovenia national football team (Slovene: Slovenska nogometna reprezentanca) represents Slovenia in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia. In the period between 1920 and 1991, Slovenia was ineligible to field a separate team for competitive matches; local players instead played for the Yugoslavia national football team. Slovenia played its first official match in 1992, one year after the country gained independence from Yugoslavia.

Slovenian national team has participated in three major football competitions. In 1999, Slovenia qualified for the UEFA Euro 2000 after eliminating Ukraine in a playoff. Slovenia achieved another success two years later, qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, this time defeating Romania in a playoff. The team did not lose a match in its whole qualifying campaign, finished in second place with six wins and six draws, but did not obtain any points in the group stage of the finals. Despite failing to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Slovenia was the only team to defeat the eventual World Cup winners Italy during the campaign. Slovenia qualified for its last major tournament in 2009 after defeating Russia in a playoff to clinch a berth for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

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